“Where
Are Our Ships Anchored?” Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – May 1,
2016 Centenary United Methodist Church
Acts 16:9-15; John 14:23-31 Our lesson from John's Gospel describes one of Jesus' last
teaching sessions with his disciples.
He made it abundantly clear to his friends where his was
permanently anchored while
sailing in this life. We are
going to consider how Jesus successfully greeted most of the experiences
that he encountered. Listen
how Jesus described where he was
anchored near the end of his ministry. I will not be able
to talk to you much longer because the
ruler of this world is
coming. He has no power
over me, but in time, the world will realize that I love the Father with
everything that I am.
Because of my love of him, I have chosen to do everything that he has
guided me to do. (John 14:31f) All of us have this potential, but we cannot bring ourselves to
let go of our fascination of
dealing quite differently with each experience that comes up for us.
We want to remain an alert and active participant in the current
reality show that our
experiences are providing. Our
hesitancy to stay with a loving energy that flows away from us is what
causes our anchors to drag
along the
bottom. There is a humorous story that describes how Jesus was able to
control himself in most circumstances.
In Stephen Covey's book,
The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People, he described an encounter of a US Naval ship with
the Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995.
The incident took place on a foggy, moonless night when a modest armada of U.S. ships encountered a light dead ahead. Here is the transcript of the communication that took place between the Americans and the Canadians. Americans:
"Please divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a
collision." Canadians:
"Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the south to
avoid a collision" Americans: "This is the captain of a US Naval ship. I say again, divert YOUR course. Canadians:
"No, I repeat, No, it is you who must divert YOUR course! Americans:
"This is the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, the second
largest ship in the United States Atlantic Fleet.
We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers and
numerous support vessels.
I demand that you change your course 15 degrees north.
Translated for you people, this
means ONE-FIVE degrees north, or counter measures will be undertaken to
ensure the safety of this ship." Canadians:
"With all due respect Captain, you are communicating with a
Canadian lighthouse." As interesting as this story is, it must be placed under the header of being an urban legend. It never happened. However, the story illustrates perfectly how Jesus managed his life by being anchored to his loving energy flow. This choice resulted in his consciousness becoming immovable and unshakable in spite of the magnitude of any potential threats. Jesus said, “The ruler of
this world is coming.” How can we understand this?
Who was this ruler of the
world? The identity of this
ruler is well known to all of
us because its energy approaches us everyday. We are not talking
about an evil-being invisibly
stalking the planet; we are talking about what evokes our hostile and
unhealthy responses to what we find approaching us.
Jesus was a student in this life just like the rest of us.
(John 14:28) His responses were
not always coming from a
lighthouse anchored on rocks.
He experienced pain from this
ruler as he was deciding what
attitudes and spirit he wanted to model for his followers. The senseless beheading of his cousin, John the Baptist, by King
Herod, scored a direct hit on
his emotions. Jesus cried when
Lazarus died.
The ruler
of this world caused Jesus to
draw a line in the sand when
he had finally had enough. He
overturned the tables of the money-changers, declaring, "My Father's
Temple was declared as a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a
den of thieves." (Matthew 21:13) Jesus gave into the ruler
of this world when he
responded with frustration to some of his followers.
He said, “How unbelieving and wrong you people are!
How long must I stay with you?
How long must I put up with you?” (Matt. 17:17)
He often chided his disciples because of their lack of trust and
faith. (Matthew 13:31) Like the rest of us, Jesus experienced
a learning curve during the
earlier days of his ministry.
He recognized how easily we
can be seduced by a need to perceive without love when the behavior and
attitudes of others do not match our own.
The ruler of this world
is anything and everything that causes our inner peace to leave us when
our desires and feelings are being ignored by what is happening in our
lives. In our lesson, Jesus addressed a quality of spirit that everyone
on our planet wants and needs. One
of the mysterious, elusive qualities of life is that all of us have the
potential to experience peace every day but we have not learned how to
remain anchored to it.
Jesus said it this way: It is my peace that
I am leaving with you. It
is my peace that I give to you.
However, my peace has nothing to do with the quality of peace
that the world promises. Never
become worried or upset; never become afraid of anything or
anyone. (John 14:27) Whether we admit it or not,
the ruler of this world comes
to all of us every day in countless different forms. We quickly forget
that the world is what it is even when no one is around to make any
judgments about it. The world was like it is before we were born and it
will be that way when we leave. Our problem is
that we have to get our
bruised egos off the stage of our lives.
Our egos are always in
rebellion against the spirit of peace by which many of us want to live.
Our fragile egos are always
preaching to
our peace, "No, this is the
way life has to be for me to be happy!"
The world, with its teaming populations and rapid changes has no
united consciousness.
It does not care what we think or how we feel about anything that is
happening. I served with my father for twelve years as an Associate Pastor.
He was a marvelous pastor and teacher to his congregation. Among
the numerous things he taught me was this:
"It is very easy to be successful in any church.
All you have to do is show up and love your people in as many
ways as your imagination will allow." After numerous years of my practicing this teaching, my District
Superintendent indicated that the Bishop and Cabinet wanted me to leave
Capitol Hill and be reassigned to St. Matthew's in Bowie, Maryland.
When this news spread among my colleagues, a number of them
called me from all over the Conference.
They had the same message.
"Dick, do you know that St. Matthew's is a truly evil
congregation? They chew up
and spit out their pastors one after the other.
Do not consent to go there.
You and Lois will be miserable." Lois and I met with their Pastor-Parish Relations Committee, the
same way that we met with a number of you.
There was a woman in the group
that did not take her eyes off of me during the meeting.
She appeared to be scrutinizing my body language during the
proceedings. When it came
to the question and answer period she asked, "What made you want to come
to St. Matthew's and what makes you think that you can meet our needs?"
I responded, "I did not choose to come here. I am being appointed
by the Cabinet even though I had said, "NO!" to this appointment.
Well . . . I thought my District Superintendent would fall out of
his chair. My response,
while honest, was not what I was supposed to say politically. My comment
created an awkward moment. Not
many questions were asked after my undiplomatic response. The meeting concluded and I was appointed to be their pastor for
the next fifteen years until my retirement.
During those fifteen years,
there was not the slightest undercurrent or problem. I have no idea what
my colleagues were referring to with all their dire warnings. The church
grew because our people invited others to join them on Sunday mornings. It
is our choice to evaluate and define how we respond to what shows up in
our lives.
Everything is relative and has no value until we assign one.
Depending on where we are
anchored, either our egos
or our loving spirits will respond. Ultimately, it does not matter how others verbally treat us.
It does not matter who has cheated us.
It does not matter if someone gossips about us. It does not
matter if people vehemently disagree with us.
Such people are only revealing who they are and nothing more.
Their responses to us reflect what is going on inside of them.
We
are the ones who make these things matter.
When
the responses of other people hurt us, it is we who are choosing to drag
our anchors across the bottom.
Living with a peaceful spirit means to show up in
every circumstance with no agenda and no judgments while extending
light just like
a lighthouse during the calm
and also during the hurricanes.
Jesus was committed to teaching his message regardless of whether
or not anyone understood what he said, whether they agreed with him or
not, or even if anyone cared about the
realm of spirit to which all
of us eventually return. Jesus understood what happens to words spoken
by any teacher. He could
not control what other people ignore or absorb.
He illustrated this in his
parable where a farmer sowed seeds that fell on different qualities of
soil. (Mark 4:13f)
He offered everyone the
keys to the Kingdom.
Accepting those keys was and
is our choice to make. No one else can accept them for us.
With all the responses we make during the average day, it does
not hurt for us to ask ourselves just where
our ships are
anchored. |